Awning.



A. M. DAUERNHEIM.

AWNING. APPLICATION FILED MAY 5,1911.

Patented MM, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

wwl o I 1 #0114 A. M. DAUERNHEIM.

AWNING. APPLICATION FILED MAY S, 1911..

1,021,508. Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2..

A. M. DAUERNHEIM.

AWNING. APPLIOATIONIILED MAY 5, 1911.

Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS M. DAUERNHEIM, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

AWNING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

Application filed May 5, i911. Serial No. 625,180;

' To all whom it may concern: i 1

and other openings in buildings and the invention embodies many featureswhich arej useful not only for shading a window, but for deflecting aircurrents'into the room of} the building and thereby securing add-itional advantages over the ordinary awning. 5

The object vof my invention consists in; providing an awning formed ofindividual. planes which can be adjusted in various positions to shadethe window and at the same time permit proper circulation of air.

The awning is constructed in such a way that the planes can not only beadjusted invarious positions for such purposes, but they may also befolded and moved to the top of the window or door, when not in use. Thelower planes, when the awning: is down, are adapted to converge from thewindow toward the middle of the awning,i and the angle of convergence ofthe lowest planes is the most acute, the ones above the lowest graduallyincreasing and the topmost pair of planes preferably lie substan tiallyflat. This arrangement causes the a meeting ends of the several pairs ofplanes to form a middle line extending from the top of the window,downwardly and outwardly so that the bottom of the awning sets out fromthe window. This causes the awning to shed rain, and causes the awningto properly shade the sun from the window and gives the same generalappearance as the awnings in general use. When the planes are folded upthey are adapted to lie flat and close to the building or othersupporting structure.

The details of construction of the preferred form of my invention andits ad'- vantages in general, will more fully appear. in the descriptionhereinafter.

In the drawings forming a part of this application Figure 1, is a frontelevation of an awning'constructed in accordance with my invention,showing the two sets of planes in different positions. Fig. 2, is a sideelevation showing the planes in one position.

Fig. 3, is a perspective view showing the awning in use. Fig. 4, is afront elevation, showing the awning in the action of being folded up.Fig. 5, is a cross section showing the position of the lower planes whenthe awning is about to be raised. Fig. 6, is a perspective view of thetwo lowermost planes i showing the devices for spacing and "for foldingthe planes: Fig. 7, is a perspective view of the end of one of theplanes, showing the method of supporting the same. Fig. 8, is a crosssection taken on'the line 8-8 of Fig. 5. Fig. 9, is a detailed view,showing the connection between the rod on pvhich the planes rock and theguiding colar. modified form of swivel connection. Fig. 11, is a planview of a portion of the structure showing the application of shieldsused to shade the light at the meeting points of the main planes, andFig. 12, is a sectional view taken on the line 1212 of Fig. 11.

Heretofore awnings for shading the sun light from windows and doors havebeen constructed of flexible material such ascanvas, supported upon arigid folding frame, but owingto the fact that the awning consisted of alarge sheet of material which covered the greaterportion of the windowor door, most of the air currents were prevented from entering thebuilding through the window or door and while the awnings shut a greatdeal of the sunlight out, and were to this extent advantageous, they hadthe disadvantage that they shut off the air currents and interfered withthe ventilation of the room. Not only this but the awning .when made ofa large sheet of material was subject to such tremendous air pressure,that at times it was necessary to fold the awning up, to save itfrom-destruction and at a time when it was required for shading thewindow. Under my invention it is possible to make the awning simple inconstruc tion and in a way which will not only cause it' to shade thewindow or door of the buildrents will be deflected and be caused toenter the building to give the proper circulation of air; and the awningwill not be subject to such great air pressure as heretofore. In thefullest embodiment of my invention the planes on one half of the Fig.10, is a similar view showing a awning are adjusted separately fromthose of the other half, and the awning is adjustable in such a mannerthat a part or all of the window opening may be shaded by the awmng.

I prefer to make the planes on each side of the awning separatelyadjustable, because at times sunlight may strike principally upon oneside of the awning, in which event the planes of that side can be placedin a position which will readily deflect the light while those on theother side may be adjusted with more regard to the air currents, wherebythe window opening will not only be shaded but the air deflectingproperties of the planes will be utilized.

In the drawings I have shown my invention in the preferred form appliedto the ordinary window of a building, but it is to be understood thatthere are other uses for my invention and the precise form herein shownneed not be followed in every instance. The structure to which I haveshown my invention applied, consist-s of a window 1, placed in thewindow frame consisting of the side frames 2 and 3, and the upper andlower sills 4L and 5. In each of the side frames 2, and 3, or othersuitable supporting means I have secured upright guides 6, and 7, whichare secured to the structure by means of screws 8, the guides being bentat each end whereby the greater part of their length will be spaced fromthe window frame sufficient to permit of the movement of certain workingparts of the awning. Mounted upon these guides and adapted to slide upand down thereon, I have provided loose collars 9, there being at leastone collar on each of the guides 6, and 7, for each bar of the planes ofwhich the awning proper is constitued. These collars are loose upon thebars and can therefore be moved up and down with the planes.

As shown, the awning structure proper consists of planes 10, the upperones 10 of which are shorter and the others are of increasing lengthtoward the bot-tom of the awning and they are arranged in pairs, thatis, the ends of the planes meet at a point preferably in line with themiddle of the window opening and diverge inwardly toward the windowcasing when the awning is down, or in the position assumed when in use.By making the planes of increasing length from the upper to the lowerplanes, the middle points of the several plane supporting bars will forma line extending outwardly and downwardly from the upper sash or top ofthe window opening. The planes are mounted in such a way that they willturn axially upon their support, and the supports are arranged andadapted to be moved upwardly for the purpose of folding the planes uponthemselves: and the supports are so constructed that when the planes aremoved upwardly they will over lap on each side of the awning and thecorners of the lower planes of one side will slightly overlap those ofthe opposite side. For this purpose I have provided the bars or rods 11,upon which the planes are socured in any desired position, so that theplanes may be swung upon the bars; and I prefer to connect the planeswith the bars for this purpose by means of the straps 12, and 13, whichare preferably arranged at the opposite ends of the planes; and thelatter straps I prefer to bind entirely around one end of the plane inorder to give the proper stiffness to the latter. I prefer to make theseseveral bars of heavy wire, whereby they may be bent outwardly towardthe middle portion 14, at whichplace I form a loop 15, toward the insideof the awning and I twist the wire at 16, and form a second loop 17. Theends of the bars 11, should bend at an angle to fornf'upwardly extendingportions 18 the ends of which, in the form shown in Fig. 9, etc., areprovided with a loop 19 which engages around the pins 20, of the collars9; and the head 21, of the pin 20, prevents the rod loop 19, from comingofi the pin, but permits of a certain amount of play of the loop on thepin. The loop itself is larger than the pin to permit the bars to assumedifferent posit-ions, such as that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9. Theupwardly bent ends 18, of the bars of the uppermost planes, arepreferably short or the bar may be even straight on this plane, but theends 18, on the other planes are of increasing length, the one for thelowestplane being greater than the rest, etc. The purpose of the gradualincrease in the length of these upturned ends is to cause, or permit theplanes to overlap each other when the awning is folded so that thesecond plane from the top will overlap the top one, the third willoverlap the first and second, etc.; and the ends 18, of the lower barwill therefore have to be of a length to permit the lower plane tooverlap all the planes above it, which requires the lower plane to moveout from the guides 6 and 7, more than the planes above it.

I have provided means for retaining the several planes in proper spacedrelation when the awning is down, and which will permit the awning to befolded; and I prefer to connect the spacing device to the middle andside of the plane carrying or supporting ports. For this purpose I haveprovided a chain 22, which I secure at its upper end to a part-of thebuilding structure preferably the upper sill t; and at various places onthis chain I provide rings 23, which are located according to thedesired spaced relation of the several planes and each ring 23, engagesin the loop 17, of one of the bars 11. In addition to this middle chain,chains 22 are also provided with rings 2 23, spaced to correspond withthe rings in chain 22. The rings of these chains circle about the pins20 of the several collars andperform the same function on each side of-When the awning is in its lowered position as in Figs. .2 and 3, thebars 1.1, are supported through the awning as the middle chain.

the rings 23, by the chains 22, and 22 in proper spaced relation to eachother, and,

when the awning is folded the chains being flexible, will not interferewith the folding action of the planes.

I have provided means for inclining the,

planes at various horizontal angles whereby they can be adjusted to suitthe angle at which the sun light strikes the building, to a properlyprevent the sunlight from entering the window; and also to secure thegreatest amount of ventilation, by adjusting the planes with relation tothe air currents striking them. I prefer to employ means for adjustingthe planes on one half of the awning separate from those of the other asitf may often happen that the light or air cur- I rents striking theplanes are different on one half of the awning from the other andseparate adjustment will produce better results. To secure the properhorizontal adjustment of the planes I have provided. ropes, one for eachside or half of the awning and the rope forms a loop around the;

several planes preferably near their ends. The rope 24, passes throughan aperture 25,

in each plane, preferably the lower part,.

which is of lesser weight than the upper half, until it reaches thetopmost plane, when it passes twice through the latter and returns onthe inside of the planes, forming two ends, near the bottom, which maybe secured as by the holder 26, to retain the When 3 the awning is downas shown in Fig. 2, the planes on either half the awning may be placedat any inclination by pulling on one planes at any desired inclination.

or the other end of the rope 24, when the engagement of the rope withthe several planes will cause the latter to rock on their bars until theplanes are adjusted to the de- 1 sired position; when the ends of theropes Z are secured to retain the planes in a steady f position. Theplanes -on one side of the awning may be tipped downwardly from. back tofront and those of the other side upwardly from back to front, or viceversa; or they may be tipped in the same position;

and in fact various arrangements are possli ble to secure the bestelrculatlon whlle at the the planes upon their bars 11, so that the barsare diagonally disposed with relation to the planes and so that theplanes are over-balanced on one side oftheir pivotali line. That is, theportion 80, of the plane when the planes are in the position shown inFig. 3, lies above the bar 11, or toward the window frame, according tothe angle of inclination of the plane; and this portion of the plane islarger, and therefore somewhat heavier than the portion 31," which liesbelow the bar, so that the natural tendency of the planes will be toswing, when the inclining rope is released or let out.

In order to control the raising and loweringvor folding of the awning Ihave provided a flexible member, in the nature of a rope 27, which issecured to the loop 15, of the bar of the lowermost plane and whichpasses through the loops 15, of the several bars of the planes, until itpasses from the loop of the uppermost bar, when it is preferably passedover a pulley 28, fastened to the window frame and thence to one side ofthe window, around another pulley 29, and downwardly where it will be ineasy reach of the operator.

The operation of my invent-ion is as follows: Zhen the awning is downfor use, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the planes may be placed at variousangles by adjusting the ropes 24:, on either side and securing them. Inthis position of the awning, the middle and ends, of the bars 11, aresupported by the chains 22, and 22 which support them in proper spacedrelation, while the ends of the bars are connected by the collars 9,with the guides at the sides.

WVhenever it is desired to raise partially or wholly the awning, theropes 24:, are first released, when the planes, by reason of their beingoverbalanced, will rock on their bars to the position shown at the leftin Fig. 1, when the part 30, which was above, hangs down below thesupporting bar 11, and the edge of one plane slightly overlaps the edgeof the next in vertical relation'to it, etc. The inclining ropes arepreferably allowed to hang free during the raising of the awning. Whenthe rope of the second, or last side to be released has been freed, theplanes of such side will rock by reason of their overweight and thiswill bring such planes into the same position as those of the firstside,with their horizontal edges slightly overlapping. When the second set ofplanes are allowed to fall, the lower planes will, by reason of theangle of the ends of the planes in relation to their pivotal line,slightly overlap at the ends which come near the middle of the awning.This overlapping of the ends or corners of the planes of the two sets,preferably takes place when the last set of planes is lowered by thereleasing of the inclining ropes. The rope 27, is now pulled, when theend of it, pulling on the middle portion of the lowermost bar 11, willcause the latter to slightly rock from; the pins 20, at each end.Finally the bar and its planes move bodily upwardly, guided by theguides, until the second plane from the bottom is overlapped by thelowest one, when both will move together, overlapping the third, etc.,as shown in Fig. 4, until the planes are folded up to the top of thewindow when they preferably lie under a sheltering shed 82, secured tothe window frame.

The difference in length of the upturned ends 18, of the several bars11, permits the lowermost bar and its planes to swing out to travel overthe next plane to it, and then for those to overlap the next one, etc.,until the planes are all folded upon themselves. The uppermost planerequires in fact, no upturned end, or a very slight upturn. Vhen theawning is thus folded upon itself it is held up out vof the way, leavingthe window unshaded. When the planes were raised the supporting chains22, and 22 simply fell into short loops and in no way interfered withthe folding operation. \Vhen the awning is to be lowered, the aboveoperations are reversed.

It will be obvious from the above that provision is made for variousadjustments of the planes so that the greatest advantages may be hadunder all conditions. It is also obvious that the air pressure andstrains on the awning are much less than in the ordinary awningconstructed of one large piece of canvas.

As there is more or less space through which the light might pass, wherethe planes of each half come together at the middle of the awning, Iprefer to arrange a series of small shields down the middle line of theawning to prevent sun light from passing and I have shown such means inFigs. 11, and 12, preferring to omit the same from the remaining viewsof the drawings for the purpose of better illustrating the moreimportant features of my invention. For this purpose I have secured tothe rods'll, at their middle extended portion, plates, consisting of thehorizontally disposed portion 33, which is secured to the looped portionof the bar by binding wires 84, passing therethrough; and the downwardlyand outwardly extending portions 35. The parts 85, are preferably widernear the port-ion 33, and are narrowed outwardly and are prefer ably ofsuch dimension and location that when the awning is in use, they willform without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

'1. An awning of the character described, embodying a plurality ofplanes, a plurality of converging supporting elements for the planes,said supporting elements being adapted to support the planes inconverging relation when the awning is down, and in overlapping relationwhen folded up, said planes being arranged to be rocked on substantiallylongitudinal axes on their said supporting elements whereby they may beplaced at various angles relative to the general disposition of theawning, and means for guiding said supporting elements during theoperation of folding the planes.

2. An awning of the character described, embodying a plurality ofplanes, a plurality of converging supporting elements for the planes,said supporting elements being adapted to support the planes inconverging relation when the awning is down and in overlapping relationwhen folded up, said planes being arranged to be rocked on substantiallylongitudinal axes on their said supporting elements whereby they may beplaced at various angles relative to the general disposition of theawning, flexible means for adjusting the planes at various angles ontheir axes, and means for guiding said supporting elements during theoperation of folding the planes.

3. An awning of the character described, embodying a plurality ofplanes, a plurality of movable converging supporting elements for theplanes, on which the said planes are arranged in diverging pairs, and ofincreasing length from top to the bottom of the awning, said supportingelements being arranged to support the planes in converging relationwhen the awning is down and in overlapping relation when folded up, saidplanes being arranged to be rocked rela tive to their supports uponsubstantially longitudinal axes whereby they may be placed at variousangles relative to the general disposition of the awning, and means forguiding said supports.

4. An awning of the character described, embodying a plurality ofplanes, a plurality of movable converging supporting elements for theplanes, adapted to support the planes in converging relation when theawning is down and in overlapping relation when folded up, said planesbeing arranged to be rocked relative to their supports uponsubstantially longitudinal axes whereby they may be placed at variousangles relative to the general disposition of the awning, and arrangedto fall in overlapping relation when swung to an upright position, andmeans for swinging said planes on their axes.

'5. An awning of the character described, composed'of diverging supportsarranged to swing and to slide, planes arranged in converging pairs uponsaid supports and adapted to swing on their supports on sub stantiallylongitudinal axes, said planes being adapted to be swung upon their axesto different inclinations relative to the general I disposition of theawning and to lie in overlapping relation when the said supports aremoved to close the awning, the planes of one diverging side of theawning being adapted to be swung independently of those of the other andmeans for swinging the planes on each side of the awning independently.

6. An awning of the character described, embodying a plurality ofindependently swinging and sliding diverging supports, planes arrangedupon the diverging portions of said supports and movable therewith, saidplanes being arranged to swing on their supports on substantiallylongitudinal axes whereby they may be placed at various angles ofincidence relative to the general.

disposition of the awning when down, means for guiding said supports andupon which the latter may swing, means for retaining the supportingmembers in such spaced relation when the awning is down as to cause theplanes to overlap as the awning is folded and means for swinging saidplanes on their axes.

7. An awning of the character described, composed of a plurality ofplanes means for retaining said planes in converging relation when theawning isdown and in overlapping relation when the awning is up, meansfor guiding said retaining means, means for supporting said retainingmeans in spaced relation when the awning is down, said planes beingadapted to swing on a substantially longitudinal axis and adapted tooverlap when swung in an upright position and a flexible member having asliding engagement with a plurality of said retaining means and adaptedto raise the lower planes whereby said planes will be folded uponthemselves as the awning is raised.

8. An awning of the character described composed of a plurality ofplanes, means for supporting said planes in converging relation when theawning is down, said planes being adapted to swing on substantiallylongitudinal axes and overbalance as to their axes, flexible means forswinging said planes on their axes and flexible means for raising saidplanes in overlapping relation.

9. An awning of the character described, composed of sets of planesarranged in longitudinal pairs, means for retaining said sets of planesin converging relations when the awning is down, and in overlappingrelation when the awning is raised, said planes being adapted to swingon axes extending diagonally of'the planes and adapted to overlap whenswung in an upright position and lap when the bars are raised.

11. An awning of the character described, comprising a plurality of barsextending c outwardly at their middle portion to form convergingmembers, said bars being adapted to swing, planes arranged upon saidconverging portions and adapted to, swing thereon, the planes of theseveral bars being,

adapted to overlap when the bars are raised, guides for the bars, andmeans for supporting, the bars in spaced relation when the awning isdown.

12. An awning comprising a plurality of bars extending outwardly attheir middle portion to form converging members, said bars being adaptedto swing, and having loops near their apices, planes arranged upon saidconverging portions and adapted to swing thereon, the planes of theseveral bars being adapted to overlap when the bars are raised, guidesfor the bars, flexible means for supporting the middle and ends of saidbars in spaced relation, and means for raising the bars and planes,comprising a flexible member passing through the loops of said bars andconnected with the lowermost bar, whereby the bars may be raised bypulling up the lowermost bar.

13. An awning comprising bars extending outwardly to form convergingparts and having upwardly extending ends, the said bars being arrangedto swing from their ends, guides for the bars, means for supporting thebars in spaced relation when the awning is down, planes carried by theconverging portions of the bars whereby they will be disposed inconverging relation with each other, the upturned portions of the. lowerbars being greater than those of the bars above them, whereby, when thebars are swung, the lower planes will overlap those above them, andmeans for swinging and raising said bars.

14:. An awning comprising guide rods for each side of the window or thelike, collars slidable along the said guide rods, bars having upturnedends arranged to swing from said collars, and extending outwardly neartheir middle portion to form converging elements, sets of planesarranged to swingon the converging portions of the bars, whereby theplanes of one set will be disposed convergingly relative to the other,flexible means for separately adjusting the angles of the sets ofplanes, flexible means for supporting theapices of the bars in spacedrelation when the bars are down, means for supporting the collars inspaced relation when the bars are down, and a flexible member arrangedto draw up on the middle of the lower bar, whereby the planes will beraised and folded, the upturned ends of the lower bars being longerthanthose of the bars above them, whereby the lower planes may swing outto permit them to overlap those above them.

15. An awning comprising a plurality of lanes, bars for supporting saidplanes on which the latter are adapted to swing, said bars extendingoutwardly at the middle to form converging portions to which the planesare secured in converging relation, means for guiding said bars, wherebythey may be raised to fold the planes upon each other, and shields forshading the space where the planes come together near the middle of theawning, said shields being carried by said bars and adapted to overlapeach other when the bars are raised.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York, this 2nd day of May1911.

AUGUSTUS M. DAUERNHEIM.

WVitnesses:

ARMA L. BAUER, EDWARD D. C. SPERRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

